


Someone Cool

by rubyjayne



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Co-workers, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Merlin has tattoos, Pining Arthur, Valentine's Day, arthur is a disaster with a crush, because I said so, heteronormative bees, merlin and morgana are chaotic friends, sort of??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubyjayne/pseuds/rubyjayne
Summary: And when Merlin turned to Arthur, extended a hand, and introduced himself with an easy, open grin and a mischievous glint still in his eyes, Arthur had known immediately, at that very moment, that he was totally and completely fucked.Merlin is opinionated as hell, always stealing other people’s food, and an absolute grinch when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Arthur, who’s been secretly pining after him ever since Merlin got hired at The Tavern, the bar his father owns, happens to think the holiday is charming. What happens when they’re both put on decoration duty for Valentine’s Day?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 242





	Someone Cool

**Author's Note:**

> in the spirit of valentine's day, i bring you this ridiculously self-indulgent modern au in which merlin and arthur work at a bar! my WIP is begging for an update but i really couldn't get this idea out of my head - it's a oneshot for now but if there's interest/ if my muse allows me, i might add more to this in the future :) enjoy!!
> 
> disclaimer: i dont own bbc merlin!!  
> please don't post to other sites :)

“Can you believe this shit?” Merlin walked out of the storeroom at the back of the bar, brandishing a cardboard box full to the brim of Valentine’s day decorations, all in equally obnoxious shades of bright pink and red, at Arthur. “You owe me big time, Pendragon.” 

“Don’t blame me.” Arthur watched as Merlin pulled out an intimidating amount of banners, heart shaped streamers, and flashy posters from the box, chuckling when he proceeded to slam each one down on the counter as if it had personally offended him. “Morgana called in sick last minute and everybody else already booked off Valentine’s day weeks in advance.” 

“Oh, as _if_ Morgana is actually sick,” Merlin said bitterly, viciously untangling a heap of heart shaped fairy lights. “She’s probably on her way to the club with Gwen right now.”

Arthur shrugged. “You can get away with a lot when your step-dad owns the place.”

“Fucking _nepotism,_ ” Merlin said, shaking his head and throwing his hands up in exasperation at the impossible tangle of lights before moving on to rummage through the rest of the box. “I’m gonna kill her.” 

“Nobody likes a hypocrite, Merlin. Nepotism got you this job, remember?” Arthur poured himself a drink and settled down at the bar to take over the abandoned knot of lights. “You think my dad would have hired you if she hadn’t recommended it?”

Arthur still remembered the day of Merlin’s interview vividly. It had been a few months ago in the early afternoon, well before the bar had opened. Arthur had been half asleep, mindlessly doing inventory in the storeroom when Morgana burst in, coffee in one hand and breakfast sandwich brandished like a weapon in the other, and promptly declared that she had the Best. News. _Ever_.

The “best news ever” had turned out to be Merlin, who had strolled into the storeroom a few moments later with a vaguely amused look on his face, already untucking a creased button down shirt from his waist and pushing up the sleeves to reveal arms peppered with tattoos Arthur couldn’t quite make out. He had announced in a cheery voice that they were looking at The Tavern’s newest bartender, snuck a bite of Morgana’s sandwich right out of her own hand, and melodramatically begged forgiveness when she staged faux-outrage at the theft, both of them stifling giggles the whole time. And when Merlin turned to Arthur, extended a hand, and introduced himself with an easy, open grin and a mischievous glint still in his eyes, Arthur had known immediately, at that very moment, that he was totally and completely _fucked_.

Morgana had insisted on abandoning what remained of her breakfast sandwich in favour of treating Merlin to a proper congratulatory brunch and the two of them were already halfway out the door when Merlin had paused and called over his shoulder, “Hey, you want to come?” Arthur had tried not to look too eager as he accepted the invite and grabbed his coat, ignoring Morgana’s groan of protest. During brunch, he learned that Merlin liked his eggs scrambled (“Over easy eggs can get fucked,” he said, spearing a piece of bacon off of Morgana’s plate aggressively), that he had just moved to the city from a rural town Arthur had never heard of after transferring universities, and that he and Morgana had met in some ultra-niche film class called _Sex, Gender, and_ _Horror: A History._

“I actually wasn’t sure if I had room in my schedule for another elective,” Merlin had said, pouring himself another cup of coffee. Black, two sugars. Arthur remembered how he had noted that minute detail before quickly reminding himself to pay attention to what Merlin was saying rather than watching his lips as he sipped his coffee. “But thank _God_ I managed to squeeze it in, otherwise I-”

“Otherwise he wouldn’t have met me, his first and only friend here in the city,” Morgana had interjected, a self-satisfied smile on her face. 

“Sorry to break it to you Morgana, but looks like you’re not my only friend anymore,” was Merlin’s retort, shooting a blindingly disarming grin at Arthur as he met his gaze.

And Arthur, being too tongue tied to speak because _s_ _hit, Merlin was beautiful_ , had simply nodded and smiled and tried not to freak out at the warm brush of Merlin’s knee against his own under the table.

“Holy fuck,” Merlin said, breaking Arthur out of his stream of memories and bringing him back to the present. He pulled what was surely one of many tacky posters out of the box of decorations and showed it to Arthur, looking so genuinely revolted that it was almost comical. The poster depicted two cartoon bees with hearts all around them, one bee adorned with lipstick and dramatic eyelashes, and said “Will you BEE mine?” across the top. 

“Holy fuck,” Arthur agreed, unable to take his eyes off the train wreck of a poster. “That is…horrific.”

“Really love that they put eyelashes and lipstick on one so people would be like 'Ah yes, a girl bee', ” Merlin deadpanned, studying the poster critically. “Heaven forbid anyone think the bees were gay.”

“But, Merlin!” Arthur put on his best _can I speak to the manager_ voice. “Think of the children! How will they ever cope if we let them entertain the possibility that the bees are… _not straight!_ ” He said the last few words in a hushed, scandalized tone, hoping to wipe the disgruntled look off of Merlin’s face. 

Merlin snorted, crinkling up the poster and throwing it in the trash before settling himself in the barstool across from Arthur, the decorations cast aside once again. “Never thought I'd be adding heteronormative bees to my list of reasons why I hate Valentine's Day,” he said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

“I'm mildly impressed that you have a whole list.” Arthur pushed his glass towards him, knowing by now that Merlin was bound to sneak a few sips at some point anyways. 

Merlin accepted the drink eagerly, pulling a pained face after taking a sip. “You have the worst taste in alcohol.”

“I’ll have you know, that is some fine, _expensive_ scotch,” Arthur said indignantly, snatching the offending drink back. “You just have undignified taste buds.”

“Tastes like piss,” Merlin said, shrugging and grabbing himself a beer from the cooler under the bar. “If that opinion makes me undignified, then so be it.”

They sipped their drinks in silence for a moment, Arthur still picking through the tangled fairy lights. 

“So what d’you think then?” Merlin gestured towards the mounds of decorations on the counter after a few moments. “Of all this. Valentine’s Day.”

“I think it can be charming,” Arthur said, thinking about the countless ridiculous Valentine’s day scenarios he had imagined during the not-so-rare moments he found himself daydreaming about Merlin. “If it’s done right.”

Merlin nodded thoughtfully, taking a swig of his beer. “Fair point. I’m gonna need you to elaborate, though.”

“Like all of this, the pink and the hearts and everything you see in the movies, it’s just- just not realistic, y’know?” Arthur continued. “It’s all a bit…”

“Corporate?” Merlin interjected, one of those cheeky grins that always managed to make Arthur’s breath catch on his face.

“Sure, corporate.” Arthur took a long sip from his glass, thinking over his next few words. “But I don’t know, I just think the idea of a day dedicated to appreciating someone you love- I mean, it doesn’t even have to be someone you _love_ , y’know? Just someone you… like. Someone cool. And having a day to show them how much you like them, it’s… I don’t know. Nice, I guess.” 

Merlin looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face and Arthur felt his own cheeks begin to warm under the scrutiny. 

“I know, I know, it’s corny-”

“No,” Merlin said, a slight smile making its way across his face. “It’s sweet."

Arthur was suddenly very aware of the fact that throughout the duration of the conversation, they had both begun leaning in progressively closer and closer, until they were now so close that Arthur was having trouble coming up with a coherent sentence to say next.

“Cheers,” he finally settled on, raising his drink up in between them, if only to get an inch of space, and looking stubbornly over Merlin’s shoulder. Right now, Arthur didn't trust himself to hold up under direct eye contact.

“Cheers,” Merlin responded, lightly tapping the head of his beer bottle against Arthur’s glass, his smile growing into a full blown grin. 

“We’d better get these decorations up before opening time,” Arthur said, grateful for the excuse to push his barstool back and stand up, draining the rest of his drink in one go.

“You’re probably right.” Merlin did the same, pulling the ball of lights back towards him with renewed determination. “You staying to help out tonight?”

Arthur nodded his assent. “It’s all hands on deck for the horniest night of the year,” he said with a wry smile, still feeling the God-forsaken flush on his cheeks. There were a few beats of silence, and then-

“Wanna watch a movie after?” Merlin asked, staring down at the lights innocently as if his question hadn’t just broken Arthur’s brain.

Of course, upon hearing the question, Arthur stumbled over the leg of a barstool, nearly dropping the pile of streamers he had picked up. 

“Theatres will probably be full,” he eventually said in what he hoped what a nonchalant voice, trying to ignore the snort that Merlin unsuccessfully tried to pass off as a cough at Arthur’s obviously flustered response. He appreciated the attempt, anyways. 

“You can just come over and we can pick something on Netflix,” Merlin said, looking up at him with that same damned mischievous glint in his eyes that he had at their first meeting. “Nothing good’s out right now anyways.” 

However many ridiculously romantic scenarios Arthur had daydreamed about, nothing could have prepared him for just how hard it was to get his brain to stop malfunctioning and to simply _open his fucking mouth to say yes_ instead of standing there slack-jawed like some sort of lovestruck teen. 

“Sure,” he finally managed, turning away under the guise of planning out where he was going to hang the streamers and steeling himself to ask his next question. “What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, nothing special,” Merlin said casually, and though Arthur couldn't see him, he could just _hear_ the smile in his voice. “Just wanted to show someone cool how much I like him.”

And Arthur really _did_ drop the streamers at that, but as Merlin's warm laughter rang out behind him, he really couldn't bring himself to care.


End file.
